Nychopteryx
Note: I am well aware the female seems flashier than the male. However, she doesn't have a head crest. Males were the only ones with head crests, which they used for display during the mating season. Nychopteryx was a small to medium-sized bird-like troodontid that lived in the Early Jurassic, predating Archaeopteryx by about 20 million years. The geography of Nychopteryx's habitat isn't real, so please do not think it is, or start yelling at me because it isn't. Description Nychopteryx (meaning "clawed wing" from ὄνυξ, genitive ὄνυχος 'claw' and πτέρυξ (ptéryx), meaning "feather" or "wing" ) lived during the Early Jurassic, during the Bathonian Stage, from about 166.5-161 million years ago. It lived in a part of North America that during the Jurassic was an archipelago of small, tropical islands in the middle of a warm sea. It was a successful and widely-spread genus, with fossils coming from Europe, the Sahara Desert, Madagascar, and Asia. Nychopteryx was covered in a thick covering of protofeathers, possibly used for insulation, but the feathers on its arms and legs were built in a way similar to those of modern birds, and were most likely used for gliding downwards toward the forest floor or for display. The tail, like dinosaurs', was bony, and covered in a fringe of feathers at the end, which was used either as a rudder, for display, or maybe for both. Since it was not a true bird but a troodontid, it shared many of its relatives' traits. It had a small sickle claw on its feet, sharp claws, and true teeth, unlike today's birds' beak-razors. Feathers Nychopteryx's feather colors have been determined during a study done three years after it was named. It had a thick covering of russet or chestnut protofeathers streaked with black and gray, and the wings were barred black and white, like its later relative, Anchiornis huxleyi. ''Its tail was white and had rings of black and russet, and the fringe on its tail was black with waves of chestnut and russet. They concluded the specimen was a male, because two months earlier, they had studied another fossil of ''Nychopteryx ''and found it a light gray flecked with black, with a smaller fringe that wasn't nearly as colorful, and it was also smaller, concluding it was a female. The purpose of Nychopteryx's feathers became clearer when the habitat of this small dinosaur was revealed. Fossilized fern fronds and other prehistoric plants as well as petrified wood revealed that Nychopteryx lived in a dense jungle, where it would be extremely vulnerable to attack by enemies such as ''Daspletotaurus agilis, ''which was apex predator in the island rainforests of Nychopteryx's habitat. It had feathers that could've been used for flight, based on design and being compared to modern birds'. It would've made sense that flight was the reason for Nychopteryx's arm and leg feathers. The fringe on Nychopteryx's tail could've been used as a rudder to help it maneuver in the air as it flew, which would've helped it when escaping an airborne predator. The vibrant colors also hint at another reason for the fringe: display. A male Nychopteryx would probably use it to attract females. Discovery Nychopteryx was discovered on a dig in Southern California in 2001. It is unusual to find land animals in that state, since most of it was submerged underwater during the Jurassic Period. They concluded it lived on a desert island filled with plains and scrubland, and the occasional pond or river. During a dig half a year later, a team of paleontologists found the fossil of a small sauropod with fossilized plant matter in its stomach, revealing that Nychopteryx lived in a wetter environment than first thought. Soon after that came the discovery of petrified wood. Nychopteryx's habitat had gone from an inhospitable desert island to an archipelago filled with lush forests and a diverse population of dinosaurs. Two years later, another specimen of Nychopteryx was found in central Europe. It was even smaller than the North American species and was considered a juvenile of that species. After further study of the European species, they concluded the bones had all fused together and that it was an adult. After studying the fossil site, the scientists decided that this species lived on the European archipelago that was composed of smaller islands than the North American one, causing the small size of the specimen. It was thought that this small dinosaur only lived on archipelagos off of Europe or Laramidia, but its discovery on Raptor Island has proven otherwise. This proved that Raptor Island had either disconnected from Laramidia, or was still attached, or that it was possibly one of many islands in yet another archipelago. Behavior Nychopteryx were solitary creatures, except during the mating season. They challenge all other Nychopteryx that set foot on their territory, and they are also very brutal towards predators, too. Even though there is a small chance of a Nychopteryx winning a fight by force against a larger predatory theropod, they usually try to. If it is a juvenile, it will usually run away or climb to the top of the predator's head, then glide to the nearest tree and escape to safety. Adults try taking on predators themselves, though. '''Social Lives' As stated above, Nychopteryx were solitary creatures. They were never with other Nychopteryx except during mating season. They rarely cared for their hatchlings. A Nychopteryx challenged others in its territory, and, if it won the challenge, would kill the challenger on the spot. They usually fought each other for food, sometimes killing in the process. In times of famine, they would resort to cannibalism. Mating Mating is the only time when Nychopteryx are not alone. If a female happens to be in a male's territory, he will let out a mating call. The female will come to the male, who will then display his feathers. The female will immediately be impressed, but if the male she wants to mate with is challenged and loses, then she will go with the winning challenger. Nesting Female Nychopteryx care for their eggs, but once they hatch, abandon them. The hatchlings are left to fend for themselves since the day they're born. While the female is nesting, the male will bring her prey and will occasionally brood on the nest for the female when she goes off to hunt. They also cover the nest in ferns and other plant material, to make the eggs warmer. Paleobiology Growth Nychopteryx grow slowly, reaching maturity at 6 to 7 years of age. As hatchlings, they're small and covered in pale white dino-fuzz, and can't fly or glide from tree to tree. If they make it passed their first year, they'll still be young enough to be called juveniles, but by then they had developed flight feathers capable of letting them glide short distances. As sub-adults, their feathers will gain color and their feathers will lengthen and strengthen. As adults, when they reach maturity, they will have gained all their flight feathers and their full color. Reproduction Female Nychopteryx lay around 15-20 eggs in each clutch. These eggs take about one month to hatch and, when they do, are abandoned. Half of the eggs don't make it, because the parents don't guard them too carefully. It is usually unknown what gender the offspring will be until they hatch. Paleoecology The habitat of Nychopteryx was usually a tropical forest on an island in a warm sea. These had a diverse environment, with dinosaurs stretching from sauropods to small compsognathids, and to the Nychopteryx itself. Pterosaurs swooped and dived near the shore, and dangerous sea reptiles lurked the seas nearby, sometimes getting washed up on the beach and providing food for the scavengers. However, about 149 million years ago, the sea levels fell. The islands in the archipelago became the peaks of mountains on the mainland Laurasia. And Nychopteryx, one of the most well-adapted to the tropical forests, simply disappeared.Category:Maniraptoria Category:Troodontids Category:Theropods Category:Feathered dinosaurs Category:Omnivores Category:Fan-made Species Category:Raptor Island Life